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THE TIME TUNNEL-CHASE THROUGH TIME
THE TIME TUNNEL CHASE THROUGH TIME Writer-Carey Wilbur Dir-Sobey Martin Dr. Alfred Styles watches Tony and Doug swirl through the time crystals in the vortex and we hear the familiar music used. There is no opening narration. The boys land, flipping over, on sand in what appears to be a vast canyon. A man in a blue tech uniform walks up behind the older Styles and shoots him. There is no one else in the control complex of the time tunnel. The scientist falls onto one of the controls and this causes Tony and Doug intense pain. They begin to shake and then fall on their backs and sides. Tony yells over and over, "You're killing us!" The tech puts a small device inside a computer wall unit near the side of the main consoles. A voice from security calls, checking on the doctor at 10:30--security check 21-22. When he doesn't answer, the security calls a Red Alert. Men run over the bridges--yes, again! Lots of military men run. (First, this is the first time we see another scientist besides Ann, Ray, Kirk, or Jerry manning the controls---and it is also the first time we see only one person in the complex--a very unlikely situation as we've seen them in the tunnel later than 10:30 in other episodes--such as PIRATES OF DEADMAN'S ISLAND; why one lone scientist would be there is kind of silly; at first, I thought perhaps this was a second time tunnel in the same complex---another one monitoring Tony and Doug). Jiggs, Ann, Kirk, Ray, and others run into the time tunnel control room. Jiggs puts them on maximum security and seals the exits out of the complex. They hear Tony yelling, "You're killing us!" The tunnel, he calls, is out of control! This is the end of the cliffhanger. Ray checks--an oscillation effect is tearing the boys apart but he stabilizes it. Ann checks the psychological condition readings--they are stable now (shouldn't that be physiological?) also. The killer runs in (gee, why didn't he just go into the time tunnel when he had the chance--perhaps, reasonably enough--he didn't want to get part of the oscillation effect that Tony and Doug were suffering). The killer shoots at the guards, Jiggs, and the General, running across the banks and around back. He runs past Ann and grabs Ray, "Halt or I'll kill him!" He activates the tunnel for himself, Ann yelling he'll lose Doug and Tony. The killer uses Ray as a shield, shoves him into Kirk, Jiggs and the men, then runs into the tunnel shaft, eluding them all. The tunnel activates and bursts are heard. Act One opens with Herrman music from GARDEN OF EVIL and KINGS OF THE KHYBER RIFLES as Ray and Ann scan to find the killer. They find a notation Alfred Styles made--a location fix on Tony and Doug. Jiggs discusses with Kirk about the situation: the man who killed Al is called Raul Neman--he came to work a year ago. A search of his room, Jiggs goes on, revealed microfilm and instructions from his principals. He was to take a leave of absence in 24 hours. While Ann and Ray find out the boys are in 1547 in Grand Canyon, Arizona, Kirk moves back to them. Jiggs coughs to get his attention again and reveals a decoded message he found in Neman's room: he's planted a small nuclear device to destroy the tunnel after he's completed his espionage. Kirk asks Jiggs to evacuate--the bomb could off sometime after midnight. When they tell Ray and Ann, Ann says they cannot evacuate, "Don't you see, our only hope is for Doug and Tony to find Neman and tell them where he hid the bomb!" Kirk tells them it is too dangerous and he can't ask for volunteers. Ray insists he is staying and Ann insists she will also. Ray repeats to Kirk that he should ask all the other techs and scientists in the complex, "Ask them, General." Kirk tells them the situation and none of them choose to leave (among these there seem to be four female lab coated scientists, and the old man who reappears in RAIDERS, only to die in it). When they all choose to stay, Kirk appears to smile slightly. He wants Jiggs to start a search. The visual image is unstable but they make voice contact. Kirk explains to the boys--there is a bomb and a timing device in the tunnel and to find Neman and make him tell them is their only chance. Doug nods, "It's our only chance too." Tony agrees, "If the Time Tunnel blows up, we'll never get back. They wonder where to look, Doug saying, "He can be within 100 yards of us, we'd never find him." Tony suggests they let him find them by building a fire. Ann finds the fix slipping out of phase--especially the one on Neman. As Tony sneaks up on him, up on a ridge of rock, overlooking their fire, Neman vanishes as they almost struggle. Tony thinks the tunnel transferred him. Kirk orders them to send Tony and Doug after Neman--if they can. The boys are sent and appear in a futuristic hallway lined with six sided shapes on all the walls and floor. A six sided screen blinks on and they see a silver capped, silver faced man who warns them not to move. Doors slide open, opening one of the designs (an impressive set by the way). The silver faced man and another with a bubble-like face and holding some kind of laser rifle, come out of the doorway opening and move right at them! Act Two begins with the main being telling them to follow. In the tunnel complex 200 volunteers look for the bomb. Jiggs and Kirk figure since Neman couldn't pass through the gate before midnight (isn't anyone ever allowed out of the complex?) and he'd have to drive three hours away to avoid fallout, the bomb must be set for 3 AM or so. Kirk orders search reports every 15 minutes. Ann and Ray try to find out how far Neman advanced into time. Tony and Doug see part of the city through a screen or window (?). It is an adequate city looking like a bee hive but we've seen much better before and after from Allen shows and even on STAR TREK, the original. Doug and Tony pass workers who have their faces covered with dark hood-masks. Doug comments the city is like an enormous bee hive. They are brought into a room by the lead man who tells them his name is Vokar and his society is the ultimate human society. He won't let them question him but asks them questions. Tony tells him they came through time. Vokar tells them, "You have arrived in the most glorious era of man's existence." Doug asks, "How do you reckon time?" He tells Doug he needn't bother with such things now---they will be given suitable work and quarters. When they are, Doug says, "Some thought, some era." A worker comes in and is revealed to be a short girl wearing a honey colored cap, her face honey colored as well. She tells them her name is Z24A19--Zee they call her for short. She has brought food for their 8 day work period--a diet ordered by the Masters--rulers of this complex. They question her and find out Neman has been among them for ten years. Doug whips up his usual answer for puzzling time paradoxes, "Maybe we've gone through a time warp." They ask her for help in finding Neman. Doug mentions if they don't it could mean trouble. When she further tries to understand, Tony says something which reveals how he feels about Ann, Ray, and Kirk, "It means something terrible will happen to people we love unless we find him." Zee asks what is love; Doug states she doesn't relate to them in any way and Tony says, "She doesn't relate to anything." Zee explains (I think she's doing a better job than Vokar in relating) her genes were selected by the population control reservoir and treated by the Masters for work (this sounds a bit like the LOGAN'S RUN series of novels). The Masters have always been and it is her purpose to serve them. The boys figure all the beings here are like bees working for a hive for the welfare of the queen--workers, soldiers, queens. Vokar comes into the room. The Master has summoned them. Tony runs at Neman upon entering the main control room (later called the teleport room--wonder why when they don't have a time teleporter yet). He tries to grab Neman who is wearing a silver cap. A silver Master is behind him--the Magistrate and is not concerned with crimes committed in other times and other places. He order the boys to reconcile with Neman who is overworked. The boys are to help him, to assist him. Doug asks what if he and Tony refuse and in answer Vokar shoots him down with a ray gun. Neman pushes the Magistrate to kill both Tony and Doug but he tells him to use the boys as he will, later they will see about killing them. Later in their dark room, Zee gives the pair oxygen using some kind of breather device. She explains that the ray was just first stage reminder of purpose. Neman came ten years ago and Doug claims they did come through a time warp--Neman arrived ten years before Tony and Doug (nice twist in the story and totally unexpected). Zee tells them Neman is building a mechanism and Doug figures it is one for time travel. Zee tells them they cannot leave the room, showing them a forcefield is on and she has the key. Tony asks, "Why warn us?" Zee says, "I like you. Time travel is necessary to spread the glory of our civilization throughout all time and bring new power to the Masters." Tony thinks they might succeed. We hear THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL music. Neman comes in and warns them that to hurt him would bring punishment. He tells them the time tunnel was blown to atoms a million years ago. It is one million AD. The bomb was set to go off at 3:05 AM. Neman reminds them that now, only he can return them to their own time, if they help him. Ann cannot locate Tony and Doug. She had been searching a thousand years from the last fix. The break in the power system gave them a power surge but now they can look farther ahead. Kirk says, "We've only have two hours, maybe less." Act Three starts as Kirk plans to abandon the tunnel in less than two hours. Tony and Doug tell Neman they will work with him to make their own time tunnel. Neman tells them he was a good technician but nobody recognized that. When Tony comments that someone must have, to hire him as a spy, Neman scoffs at his former employees. Tony asks what kind of period preceded this one and Neman tells him, "We are not here for a lesson in history." Time travel is a lost art for these people. Neman wants to start the first experiment and has soldiers bring a worker in. Tony and Doug are shocked he will use human subjects. Neman explains that he cannot use any animals---they have been extinct for 100 thousand years. He adds, "One makes due with what is available." When the mask is removed, they see it is Zee! Her genes have been deemed defective, one way or another she has to be destroyed. She is put into a capsule (not unlike the dome to the capsule in SECRET WEAPON) and it is closed and lights up. Tony runs and gets her out and tells her, "Get out of here!" She runs out as he is shot by ray. Doug checks him. Vokar tells him Tony is just stunned. Neman scolds Vokar. Later in their quarters, Tony sits up. Doug tells him they shouldn't have tried to help Zee--she hasn't a chance, besides the tunnel needs them to find out more about the bomb. Doug explains, "We're going to have to forget about her." Tony, instead, promptly forgets about the forcefield and runs into it (and we hear music from WILD ADVENTURE on LOST IN SPACE--the part when they encounter the Earth's sun--also used in END OF THE WORLD more extensively). Tony recovers quickly and the two try to figure out how to short the forcefield--using the idea of the key the girl had. It probably works on a magnetic field principal and Doug feels the basic laws of physics haven't changed--they should be able to divert the gogging device (or something that sounds like that). There is a maze like backdrop in their room which seems to lead to a hall or some other room, blocked off to them. Just then, Ray calls, making voice contact. Kirk takes over and explains to them--they must find out the time. Kirk says, "You've got to get out of that forcefield. Make him talk!" Ann talks to them about moving them. Doug feels anyplace would be better than the one they are in now. They find a coil of wire but they need wood. Wood probably isn't used any more. Tony noted everything seems to be made out of molded plastic. Doug finds a bit of coil in a light, even though the light is solar energy powered via radio waves, it has a coil--radio waves still need wires. They don't recognize the material it is but use it and throw it through the force screen. The lights go off and the field is out. Zee is hiding in the halls, making her way back to Tony and Doug to let them out. They find her and she tells them she was coming to save them, touching Doug's arm and hand. She knows a way to get to the teleport room where Neman is--a way to reach it past guards. Workers move past them but don't see them. They get to the doors and sound a doorbell type mechanism. They go in as we hear more music from GARDEN OF EVIL. In the teleport room, Tony and Doug confront Neman. Zee locks the doors. Neman tries to stall them by telling them they could be killed for coming into this room. Neman throws a chair at them and calls for Vokar. Doug grabs him. Neman pulls a rod of some kind from the wall and tells them he will kill them himself (this guy sure changed his mind a great deal). Soldier and Vokar arrive outside and Vokar runs into a forcefield made by Zee. Slaves come running in (from where? Hey!!!) to the teleport room (?). It is one minute before the time tunnel can transfer Tony and Doug and Neman. Soldiers shoot their way into the room, blasting the door mechanism. Vokar comes in just as Neman was about to tell them where he hid the bomb. Tony and Doug win against Neman and grab him, trying to use him as a shield against Vokar and the bubble faced soldier. As time tunnel counts down, Tony and Doug toss Neman into Vokar. Zee moves back. There is no reaction to the building hum of the tunnel. Kirk orders them to try it in a series. Tony and Doug vanish. Then Neman. Then Vokar and finally Zee! Ray confirms they are in limbo. Ann finds out a fourth person was transferred. It was a simultaneous transfer she says, then corrects herself--almost simeltaneious. She looks, "They're going back in time...back...back.." then she notices that five people were transferred! Ray reads them at one million BC (any Rachel Welch's around or Victor Mature's?). He claims they are in the Pliocene Period. Kirk says they are as far back as they were forward. A pre-history lesson: the Pliocene was not a Period but an Epoch. at 65 million years ago there were only six dinosaur genera. This would suggest that in 1 million BC dinosaurs were already extinct. Thus, Pliocene was not correct unless the info most archaeologists believe is wrong. Also, there were a few dinosaurs found alive after 65 million years ago in Australia. Additionally, at least one book has been written telling about dinosaur footprint fossils which have an early man's footprint inside it! Such fossils have been found in Australia and Canada. So who can tell, perhaps man and dinos did walk the Earth together somehow! Tunnel only gets sound contact. Kirk says, "Well, if they don't find out where that bomb is hidden within an hour, all of us are as good as dead." Tony is moving through a fogged jungle. Doug, his shirt ripped, is moving also---coming from a different way. They meet up with each other. Doug tells him he's been clawing his way through this jungle for hours. It is like a gigantic hot house. Tony wonders if it is an island. He adds he'd settle for the Amazon as long as it was the 1968 Amazon. They laugh but a giant lizard towers over them and gives chase. TO ALL WHO WRITE OR CRITICIZE WITHOUT WATCHING---THERE IS NO LINE IN THIS EPISODE CONCERNING TONY SAYING TO DOUG SOMETHING ABOUT HIM REMEMBERING OR KNOWING HIM THIS TIME. That dialogue was in the unaired version of the pilot. Here, it was dubbed out. Act Four opens with Tony and Doug stopping from their run. They figure they are a million years back. Doug says, "You know Tony, we might be the only humans left alive on Earth." They look for Neman who is in the jungle also. Vokar shoots at the giant lizard dino alligator type that is near him (this scene uses JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH music quite nicely). Kirk tells everyone to evacuate, calling off the search and ordering all the volunteers to the shelters. We briefly see a room in the complex where a scientist that Kirk is talking to on the phone is and there are a lot of security men. The man tells them to go to shelters. Jiggs tells Kirk the complex will be clear in ten minutes. Kirk notices the techs still standing around and tells them to leave--that it is a direct order. In response, Jiggs tells him they are waiting for him, Dr. Swain and Dr. MacGregor to leave. Suddenly, as Kirk is proud, Ann gets a location on all five people in time and a shaky image. Zee is running for her life from another giant lizard--what looks like a dino called Triceratops but oddly different and more modern-lizard-like with fins atop its head. Some of this footage may be from Irwin Allen's 1960 THE LOST WORLD. THE LOST WORLD wasn't the first movie to use lizards with their fins and horns stuck on them--a very cruel thing to do. This was done several other times in the past. ONE MILLION BC (1940) did this first and to the best effect--however it doesn't match the effects of Ray Harryhausen's animation nor today's cutting edge computer and model work. Footage from the original ONE MILLION BC (1940)--the film that did this to best effect other than Allen's THE LOST WORLD---was lifted and used in many other movies including: TWO LOST WORLDS (1950 and a very strange pirate-dinosaur-shipwrecked family movie!), UNTAMED WOMEN in 1952, (added to the old footage was footage of an armadillo), and KING DINOSAUR (1954), VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS (1961). There are others! In addition to all of that, Allen's own footage from his own THE LOST WORLD was used or imitated in VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA-TURN BACK THE CLOCK (along with the giant spider and many David Hedison scenes), TERROR ON DINOSAUR ISLAND (complete with Jill St. John's scream from THE LOST WORLD), NIGHT OF TERROR (with new footage of the lizard attacking the diving bell and the men), A TIME DO DIE (LOST WORLD footage on the bow, sir!), in LOST IN SPACE--THE KEEPER PART TWO (although this seemed to be new footage shot for the episode--we also see a few little lizards in PART ONE), LOST IN SPACE-THE SPACE PRIMEVALS and FLIGHT INTO THE FUTURE, and even in LAND OF THE GIANTS--THE CRASH which had the finned Tri-lizard for no apparent reason, NIGHTMARE (new footage), and THE SECRET CITY OF LIMBO (new footage but badly photographed and matted!). Add to this the fact that the footage in CHASE of the alligator dino was from the unaired pilot and this premise of using lizards for dinos has quite a credit listing! Thank goodness harming little lizards has stopped! I'm not saying any were harmed just that it looks kind of mean to stick fins and such on them. We hear brief music from JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS which was used in LOST IN SPACE-THE HUNGRY SEA. Directly after that, we hear the Chariot storm music used at the beginning of the sea storm in HUNGRY SEA. The forest turns dark, more fogged, with lightning and wind rising. Neman falls into quicksand and calls for help. Tony and Doug hear him and run to the quicksand--Doug almost falling in. Tony pulls him back. They have to save him if they are to save the time tunnel. Doug makes an agreement--if they do save him he will tell them where the bomb is hidden. Tunnel begins to lose the image. Tony can't reach Neman or get him up when he does get to his hand. They use a vine spread out across and over the quicksand for Neman to climb out as each man holds one end. Tony calls: Swain, can you hear us? We have Neman. They get a stabilized image and keep losing it again but voice contact is good. As Neman goes to tell them where the bomb is located, Vokar arrives, "One more word Neman and you die." Vokar tells them they are all forbidden to speak. Ray hears this and says, "I think we've lost our last chance." Vokar is told by Doug about one million years of heredity--his humanity was bred out of him. Vokar will take them to the Masters and where the Masters expect them to be--to where he arrived. Kirk tells the others in the complex to all go to the shelters now. They do. Zee still runs from a dinosaur. It seems almost superfluous to have both Zee and Vokar along in the past--but I suppose they had to calm anyone's doubts as to her fate--had she remained in the future, her fate would most likely have been death. Several lines of Vokar could have been Zee's and vica versa. Kirk gets Jiggs to round up all the others and leave. He goes over to Ann and Ray, who are still at their posts, "There's no hope." Ray stands up to leave but Ann stays at her post and puts her hand out to Ray, "General wait, five minutes please!" Kirk agrees, admitting he is cutting it to a hairline. Two giant lizards fight in the most used and seen sequence ever in film and TV combined (of course Seaview hitting the bottom of the sea is first, if not combined)! We hear THE LAST WAGON music again! Neman runs off while the other three are watching the dinos fight. Vokar falls as Tony races after Neman. Doug gets his ray gun. Vokar, in his infinite wisdom, tells him that the third stud setting is for killing instantly--he wants to die since his leg seems to be broken. Vokar asks Doug why he doesn't kill him--it is his right. Doug tells him, "No man has the right to kill." This is true but it doesn't stop the time travellers (Tony mostly) from killing in other episodes! Oh, well kill or be killed (that's another story!). Doug explains that Vokar is a man or at least once was many years ago. Doug tells him he will help him, he doesn't like to leave anyone alone and hurt. When Vokar asks about "like" Doug tells him it is a feeling that gives you pleasure. Should I be writing this? As they make their way through the jungle, Doug comments on how he thinks Vokar's leg is not broken--only badly sprained. Tony catches up to Neman and the pair fight but fall into a hole in the ground. They land inside a cell of some kind which has six sided designs in it. Zee arrives and as the three try to find out what happened to Tony and Neman, Tony warns them off--the ground is giving way. Sure, enough the trio also fall into the hole. We hear some LOST IN SPACE music (used many times but most recognizable as the music used in FOLLOW THE LEADER's intro scene teaser as John is first trapped in the cave before the credits). They find they are in a giant bee hive of some kind. Vokar explains his city was patterned after the cells of these extinct insects. They hear the bees, a swarm returning to the hive. Act Four starts with the time tunnel trying to lock on and they do but they need 3 to 4 minutes of power build up to transfer all of them. They activate but cannot see them at all now--only hear them. Kirk calls and they hear him, Tony and Doug are heard by the tunnel staff (all three of them now!). Doug tries to get Neman to tell him about the bomb but the man is afraid. Vokar gets the ray gun from out of Doug's belt (getting strange here!) and points it at him and Tony. Then to Zee's smiling face, he points it at Neman, "Give him an answer," Vokar says flatly, "I like him." Uh-ho. This got past the censors thank goodness. Kirk is told by the boys about the bomb--Neman told them they would never find it but they can find the fuse it uses--a small bomb time fuse in a bus bar in the phase synchronizer console--just to their right! Why didn't they search that? Kirk goes to it with Ray and they open the bank. Kirk deactivates the fuse (will they find the bomb or just leave it wherever it is?). Kirk says they just made it---but will Tony and Doug. Ann hears the sound of bees. Kirk calls them and tells them he found the fuse and stopped the detonation. The image comes back again and Ann seems to get panicked, "They're caught in a giant beehive! We've got to get them out of now!" They can't transfer all five at once so Kirk suggests stretching the transmissions. Tony and Doug vanish in that familiar popping sound. Then Zee and Vokar. Where were they sent? To Tony and Doug's same location--the next episode (1287)? Are they in 1287? Or did the tunnel send them back to the future (catchy title that)? If so what would happen to them at the hands of the Master or the Magistrate? Would they lead a revolt or spread the feelings Tony and Doug (Doug mostly) gave to them? Nice ideas for fan written stories! Kirk looks at the image and asks Ann if there is enough to transfer Neman. Neman appears to grab a net which is lying in the corner of the room--is this for cover or is this a lame attempt at special effects of bees covering and killing him. Ann frowns, "No." I think they sincerely sounded like they wanted to save him. The bees do cover Neman, evoking thoughts of the later THE SWARM. Also--the sequences of the tunnel personnel remind me of the similar later scenes used in the aired TV pilot version of CITY BENEATH THE SEA when the ladies and the other main characters stay at their posts while the Admiral orders them to leave during the approach of a deadly comet. CLIFFHANGER: Tony and Doug are on the screen, watched by Ann, Ray, Kirk and others in the complex. The boys are flying through the vortex and land near haystacks after and as the familiar (and welcome) time travel music from the pilot is played. They get up and things move quickly: they are on a battlefield. Hearing shots, they run for cover at an old fashioned uncovered wagon which was overturned. The tunnel sees them. Doug checks a young soldier in blue--he's dead and looks like a mere teenager. Blasts from cannons force Tony and Doug to run. In what looks like a blooper but which fits in perfectly in their mad dash--Doug's hand hits one of the wagon's frame poles and it falls right off, nearly hitting or hitting James Darren as he runs behind Cobert! The blasts follow them in a very exciting and fast paced sequence. The boys hide near a broken and torn wooden white fence where a disabled cannon is on one wheel. They watch in wonder as a man in a long cape, hood, and wearing boots and gloves leads a giant white and black spotted mastiff on a chain, uttering something to the animal in Italian! There is stock footage as Union men run by, some with rifles and pistols, some rolling along cannons on carts. There is a wide open field, fires, smoke, Union men shooting and killing Confederate men, bomb blasts hitting Confederate men. Three Union men come running, blazing their guns away at pursuers. The leader--a Major, correctly figures Tony and Doug should retreat with him and his men. Shellfire riddles the area. Confederates come over the fence as the group runs, the Major (the always welcome and wonderful John Crawford) shoots one but a shell burst hits close to Tony and a young soldier! Tony is thrown forward onto his face! The other soldier helps the one who fell up. Doug had run ahead to another overturned wagon (or the same one?) and only then realized what happened. He runs back and gets Tony over to the wagon as the Major shoots more Confederates. When the Major rejoins Doug, who is holding an unmoving Tony, Doug tells him, "We need a doctor!" The Major tells him, "He's beyond any hope this world can give him now--he's dead!" NEXT WEEK ...SEE THIS FANTASTIC ADVENTURE IN THE TIME TUNNEL! CHASE THROUGH TIME is easily one of the best episodes of THE TIME TUNNEL along with THE DEATH MERCHANT and what is probably the best THE DAY THE SKY FELL IN. CHASE THROUGH TIME is highly entertaining and of all the odd episodes with aliens and futuristic devices, it is the best. Not bad from the writer who also gave us some of the worst LOST IN SPACE episodes--TREASURE OF THE LOST PLANET and THE QUESTING BEAST (however awful those might be they can't come close to other terrible LOST IN SPACE episodes by other writers--like ROCKET TO EARTH and THE SPACE VIKINGS which both have almost no redeeming value at all!). CHARACTER ANALYSIS: Raul Neman--killer, came to work in complex in 1967, had perfect cover, had leave of absence upcoming in 1968, worked for some foreign nation or company that wanted to destroy the Tic Toc lab--which has thousands of lives living in it; this means that Tic Toc is known to some organization who is still out there. He killed Dr. Alfred Styles (later Kirk calls him Upstyles) and planted a bomb in the tunnel to blow up at 3:05 AM on the morning he left. Neman feels he is overworked in One Million AD. He won favor with the masters, building a mechanism for time travel to spread the hive to all tribes. Neman planned to forget about those who hired him. Time travel was a lost art to the Masters. In a million years, he says, a thousand civilizations can rise and fall. Worker Z24819-female drone worker who brings food to Tony and Doug, serves the Masters who provide, she tells Tony and Doug that in her time, there are workers and soldiers. The information she tells the two men lead them to believe they hit a time warp, allowing Neman to appear ten years before them. She has no concept of mother or father. She tells them her genes were selected by the Population Control Reservoir and treated by the Masters to make her fit for duty. They all work for the welfare of the hive--workers, soldiers, queens. She explains about purpose, the Magister, and the First Stage Reminders of the purpose (a ray gone blast). She also warns them of a forcefield that can injure them because she likes them. Neman tries to use her in his experiment, telling Tony and Doug her genes are defective. She carried a magnetic key to their forcefield. Volkar-the protector of Neman in the year One Million AD. His sole job is to protect Neman. The time tunnel transfers Tony, Doug, Female Worker Z24819, Neman, and Volkar to One Million BC--the Pliocene Period (while 1 Million BC is correct for the Pliocene EPOCH it is not a period and also, in 1 Million BC there were no dinosaurs according to current research--HOWEVER some finds in Australia and Canada have found dinosaur footprint fossils with a human being's footprint inside the dino footprint! Tony or Doug's?). Of course, the dinosaur could have been a surviving Komodo dragon ancestor (and a rather big one at that!) or one of the dinos that made it to 1 Million BC--we may never know the real time line behind dinos and early man correctly. Back to Volkar---Tony and Doug, amid music from JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and LOST IN SPACE's THE HUNGRY SEA---save Neman from a quicksand pit. Volkar arrests all three, including Neman, conditioned by a million years of heredity, Tony feeling his humanity has been bred out of him. When Doug gets Volkar's gun after the future man thought he had broken his leg, Doug spares him. Volkar's third setting on his gun is to kill. Volkar then learns of like and likes Doug, helping him against Neman. Why they couldn't allow the girl drone to be in the role instead of Volkar I don't know. It seemed a waste to have both of them in the past and I also hope Volkar doesn't like Doug too much.